I regularly drool over some of Meeta's creations. So when she teamed up with Tony to bring us this month's Daring Baker Challenge, I knew it would be drool worthy. Add in the name Pierre Hermé, and you are almost guaranteed the need for extra napkins.
Eclairs, eclairs, oh lovely eclairs!
How come I only made these once this month? Oh yes, too many other things going on. And they were good. Very good. Dangerously, too easy to eat, good.
Meeta and Tony had a few rules: use the choux pastry recipe given (I did). Keep one of the chocolate components chocolate. I went for the chocolate sauce rather than the glaze, and made the pastry cream recipe give, but removed the chocolate and replaced it with vanilla.
Did I mention these were good? I ended up only eating half of one, but I served these to out of town guests and at least one of the friends ate three. He might have eaten more, but I'd run out.
Thanks to advice from Helen, I knew I could make the choux pastry ahead of time, pipe out the eclairs, and freeze them. Good thing too, as I planned to make these for our guests, but was short on time and did not want to spend our entire short visit cooking. Instead I threw together the dough (easy as can be), pipped the eclairs onto parchment and froze them, baking them off shortly before we were going to eat them.
The pastry cream came together without a single issue. It was great as vanilla, so I really have no desire to try it as chocolate. (I know this might shock some people, but I am finding I don't want as much chocolate as I used to - however that bacon sitting on the counter, left over from dinner, is calling me.... Eat me! Eat me! Eat me!)
I had a small issue with the chocolate sauce - the recipe says it will take 10-15 minutes, at a low, gentle boil, stirring constantly, to thicken up. Nope. Try 45 minutes. And only because I turned the heat up. Way up. If I'd have had a bit more patience (and no one around me waiting for dessert), I might have let it thicken a touch more, but I didn't. Hence it isn't as thick as a glaze might be on the eclairs. Which didn't in any way affect the flavor of this dessert.
This months' challenge is making to my list of 'make again' desserts. But only when I have company willing to help eat it, so I don't have to eat too much of it myself.
Thanks Meeta and Tony for a great choice. Now head out into the world to read the 1000+ other posts about eclairs. Just be sure to leave me a note and let me know you've been by first!
Daring Bakers: It's only the pictures that are bad
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24 comments:
Nice job! You are soooo lucky you had company to help eat these. ;)
Wow, this looks and sounds delicious. Wow.
Wait just a minute - you don't like chocolate as much as you used to? I'm so sorry to hear that.
While the pictures don't do those eclairs justice, they certainly look mighty delicious.
Are there really over 1000 DB's?
Oh lookie there at all that puffed pastry! Well done my friend.
Only half of one?!? I was definitely in the 3+ category... I admire your restraint!
Good job! THREE? That is a sign of a delicious treat!
Looks delicious. So thankful for this excellently written recipe.
I'm glad you liked them - it seems nearly everyone did. Startin' to think I must have done something wrong!
Jenny Jenny these are lovely! glad you liked them! i have learned to keep one extra of anything i make far from the reach of my friends and family - i then can enjoy it when no one in looking lol!
I'm glad that yours turned out after freesing because I'd like to try again. Freezing seems the only option because an entire batch is dangerous!
Awww nice baking!! Yes, dangerous recipe; freezing helps lol!
I agree these were too easy. I may be tempted to make them allll the time;) Yours look great!
Looks delicious! I ate a whole one!
Great job! As long as they tasted great, the pictures don't matter! They look delicious.
I ended up eating 2 by myself. But I made them tiny so maybe that doesn't really count? As always, very nice job this month. :)
Nicely done! These really were delicious, weren't they? I ate three, then went on my diet the next day. :-)
Yeah, I thought it would be too chocolatey as written, so I did a vanilla creme as well. Glad I did.
j
I think it might be even more fun to use the chocolate as a sauce instead of a glaze... Although it wasn't what you intended, it still sounds tasty!
I agree these éclairs really were great! My best friend is coming to visit next month and I think we're going to make some when she's here! :)
Pretty eclairs, even with the slightly thin glaze. Mine was only thick because it had been in the fridge a while. Lucky you to have guests to help eat these lovlies, and lucky guest to get to eat them.
Mmm - yum! I'm glad you agree that it was worth the effort. Most of my eclairs ended up wasted because my boyfriend was gone, but it was quite the experience, wasn't it? Thanks for stopping by my blog!
wow, to just eat half of one?! That shows major will power :) I'm glad they were such a hit with your friends! they look delicious - I'm kind of sad there aren't any left in my house, haha!
Thanks for baking with us!
Mmmm... your eclairs look fantastic. I especially love the way you've plated them; chocolate sauce drizzle = me licking the plate clean :P
You had lucky guests! I'm impressed that you can make these and entertain and take pictures all at roughly the same time! I only made them once this month too, but wish I'd made them more than that...they're sooo yummy.
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